Centre driven Controlled Evolution of Wireless Virtual Networks based on Broadcast Tokens

2025-06-19

AI Summary

To address the dual challenges of lacking pre-deployed keys for virtual links and the difficulty in simultaneously achieving security and centralized controllability in wireless sensor networks (WSNs), this paper proposes a centrally orchestrated broadcast token mechanism. The mechanism enables time-orchestrated key evolution and parallel construction of virtual multicast groups through broadcast token distribution, local key derivation, and distributed synchronized release. It introduces the novel paradigm of “centrally controllable evolution,” allowing on-demand convergence of virtual topologies to prescribed connectivity contours while balancing single-group span and multi-group coexistence. The resulting model supports both topology programmability and central visibility of information flows. Experimental results demonstrate that the approach ensures secure inter-node communication while significantly enhancing the flexibility and controllability of dynamic virtual network reconfiguration.

Technology Category

• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Optimization of Spatio-temporal Systems
• Multiagent Systems: Agent Communication
• Search and Optimization: Distributed Search

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Virtualization and resource management in Web systems and infrastructures
• Graph Algorithms and Modeling for the Web: Efficient manipulation of static and dynamic Web-related graphs
• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements

Abstract

In a wireless sensor network, the virtual connectivity between nodes is a function of the keys shared between various nodes. Pre-embedding these key configurations in the nodes would make the network inflexible. On the other hand, permitting subsets of nodes to engage in a common key synthesis phase to create secure distributed connections amongst themselves, would decouple and conceal the information flow from the controlling centre. An intermediate solution is the notion of a centre driven key generation process through broadcast tokens, designed to extract different keys in different nodes based on some prior information stored at the nodes. As more tokens arrive, the virtual connectivity of the nodes are altered and the network evolves. This evolution can be distributed and can be controlled to converge to a certain specific connectivity profile. In this paper we present a framework and an algorithm which controls the simultaneous and distributed key release in different nodes, resulting in the creation of parallel virtual multicast groups. The design of the node shares and the supporting broadcast tokens have been discussed in conjunction with the process of balancing the spans of individual groups with spans of several coexistent multicast groups.

Problem

• Dynamic virtual connectivity in wireless sensor networks
• Secure distributed key generation using broadcast tokens
• Controlled evolution of parallel multicast groups

Innovation

• Centre driven key generation via broadcast tokens
• Distributed controlled evolution of connectivity
• Parallel virtual multicast groups creation